The billboard, sponsored by the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida (ARFF), features an image of a circus elephant in chains and boldly declares “Animals don’t belong in the circus” and “Shriners, please end your support of cruel circuses.”

The billboard truck will circulate in Daytona Beach on Tuesday, July 11 from 11:00am until 7:00pm, the start of the Shriners parade along A1A.

The Imperial Session, the annual convention of Shriners International, will be held in Daytona Beach from July 9-13. More than 100 Shriners International temples (chapters) in the U.S. will sponsor circuses in 2017. Shrine temples partner with circuses that have poor records of animal abuse and neglect.

“There is growing awareness and concern about the treatment of elephants and other animals in the circus,” said ARFF Communications Director Don Anthony. “Unfortunately, the Shrine Circus is resisting change and continues to support cruel circuses.”

Shriners have been associated with circuses for a long time, but change is possible. Several Shrine temples have replaced long-running circuses with equally profitable alternatives, such as golf tournaments, car shows, festivals, or animal-free circuses.

(Kissimmee) — The Animal Rights Foundation of Florida (ARFF) has released disturbing video taken during the Bahia Shrine Circus at Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee on Saturday, May 6.

In the video— available here: https://youtu.be/QNBthmtroZg— circus workers violently jab a tiger with sticks after the animal refuses to perform.

“This weekend, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus will hold its final performance,” said ARFF Communications Director Don Anthony. “Ringling Bros. recognized that the public is turning away from cruel animal acts. Unfortunately, Shrine Circuses are resisting change and continue to transport tigers thousands of miles stuffed inside transport cages, and to force these magnificent animals to perform unnatural tricks on demand.”

Violent, physical abuse remains a common method of training and controlling animals in the circus.

ARFF activists protested outside all of the Shrine Circus performances in Kissimmee, May 6-7.

Orlando’s Bahia Shriners hired the Royal Hanneford Circus to be their 2017 “Shrine Circus.” The Royal Hanneford Circus has a long and sordid record of poor animal care and dangerous animal rampages. In November 2016, the circus agreed to pay a $7,000 fine to settle a federal complaint related to two incidents that put both animals and the public at risk.

(Tallahassee, FL) — In today’s Tallahassee Democrat, the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida (ARFF) is running an advertisement urging Governor Rick Scott to appoint a nature photographer, a birdwatcher, or an individual with a background in wildlife conservation, to fill the next vacancy on the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).

Today’s ad also ran in Sunday and Monday’s papers, and will run on Thursday as well, the final day of an FWC meeting in the town of Havana, north of Tallahassee.

The ad features an image of a black bear under the headline, “Florida’s wildlife belongs to all Floridians”. At this week’s meeting, the FWC will once again discuss bear management. In 2015, the FWC approved a black bear hunt despite strong public opposition. It was the first bear hunting season in Florida in 21 years.

“It is time that the FWC has a Commissioner who represents nature photographers, birders, hikers and other ‘non-consumptive’ users of Florida’s fish and wildlife,” said Don Anthony, ARFF’s Communications Director. “Most residents of Florida are not hunters, yet the FWC has long been dominated by individuals with a hunting background.”

Nature photography, along with birdwatching, hiking, canoeing and kayaking are the fastest-growing outdoor activities in America. According to the FWC’s own numbers, “wildlife viewing” has a much greater economic impact in Florida than hunting. The appointment of a photographer, birder, or wildlife advocate would add an important perspective to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

(Miami) – Activists with the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida (ARFF) will work to educate the public about the cruelty of the circus on opening night of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in Miami. A large turnout is expected. To coincide with ARFF’s protests, advertisements on 20 local taxi cabs will draw attention to Ringling’s cruel training of baby elephants.

In March 2015, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus announced that it would retire its elephants from circus performances by 2018. ARFF is calling for Ringling to immediately retire its elephants and to eliminate ALL animal acts.

“Ringling Bros. has recognized that the public is turning away from cruel animal acts,” said ARFF Communications Director Don Anthony. “Unfortunately, Ringling Bros. is delaying taking elephants off the road until 2018 and will continue to transport elephants, tigers and other wild animals thousands of miles chained in boxcars and stuffed inside transport cages, and to force animals to perform unnatural tricks on demand.”

Ringling Bros. has a long history of poor animal care. In 2011, Ringling Bros. paid a $270,000 fine to the USDA to settle allegations that it violated animal welfare laws in its handling of elephants, tigers and other animals. The fine was the largest ever against a circus! The alleged violations include elephants forced to perform when they were sick.

(Miami, FL) — Activists with the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida (ARFF) will protest curbside at Miami International Airport against the transport of monkeys to laboratories. The protest will target Air France, the only major airline that continues to be involved in the cruel international trade in primates.

(The airport has permitted ARFF to protest in “First Amendment zones” outside the terminal building.)

In 2014, Air France transported thousands of monkeys from the African island of Mauritius to the U.S. to be used in experiments. For these highly intelligent and sensitive animals, the long-distance journey to a U.S. laboratory is traumatic.

There is a growing list of airlines that refuse to transport monkeys for the research industry. Some of the airlines that have made this compassionate decision include American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, British Airways, Air Canada, El Al and Korean Air.

“The international trade in primates causes intolerable cruelty. Air France plays an important role in this horrible trade,” said ARFF Campaigns Coordinator Nick Atwood.

(Lakeland, FL) — At its June meeting, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) will take a final vote on opening a bear hunting season in Florida. Animal activists across the state will rally against a bear hunt at the FWC’s regional offices in West Palm Beach, Ocala, Lake City, Lakeland and Panama City.

“Commissioners are ignoring the majority of Floridians who have said they oppose a bear hunt,” said ARFF Campaigns Coordinator Nick Atwood. “A trophy hunt is not a solution to human-bear conflicts. To protect public safety, Florida’s state wildlife agency should invest in bear-resistant trash cans, and not waste its limited resources on a hunt.”

Bears were last hunted in Florida in 1993. Although bear numbers have grown, hunting will threaten a still-recovering population (the Florida black bear was only removed from the state threatened list in 2012).

Hunting bears deep in the woods will not reduce bear conflicts in residential neighborhoods. Properly securing garbage and eliminating other attractants (pet food, outdoor grills, bird feeders) is the key to reducing conflicts with bears.